Overview
Black Vulture: Large raptor, black overall, short, featherless neck, pale bill, short and squared tail, long, pale gray legs and feet. Gray-black skin on head and neck is wrinkled. White-tipped wings, held horizontal in flight. Soars on thermals, must flap its wings more often than a Turkey Vulture.
Range and Habitat
Black Vulture: Resident in southeastern U.S. and Texas, south to the tropics; preferred habitats include open country, but breeds in woodlands and thickets.
Vultures (Cathartidae)
ORDER
There are five families in the taxonomic order FALCONIFORMES (pronounced fal-kon-ih-FOR-meez), an order of raptorial birds that includes the Osprey, hawks, eagles, and vultures (it should be noted that these birds are alternately classified in an order named ACCIPITRIFORMES (pronounced ak-sip-it-ruh-FOR-meez) by some ornithological authorities).
FAMILY TAXONOMY
The Cathartidae (pronounced kath-ART-uh-dee) is a family composed of seven species of vultures in five genera that occur in North and South America.
NORTH AMERICA
There are five species of vultures in four genera found in North America. Among these are the Turkey Vulture and the huge California Condor.
KNOWN FOR
Members of the Cathartidae are known for their keen ability to locate carrion, their primary food source. In the case of the Turkey Vulture, it’s amazing sense of smell is used to find dead animals.
PHYSICAL
Vultures are large birds with short to medium length tails, and long, broad wings adapted for soaring (the California Condor actually has the largest wingspan of any living North American bird). Being scavengers of decaying flesh, their thin, hooked beaks and feet with sort talons aren’t as strong as those of raptors that catch live prey.
COLORATION
Black is the predominant color of vulture plumage although some species show a bit of gray or white in the wings, the exception being the mostly white King Vulture of tropical regions. The heads of vultures lack feathers and can be black, red, yellow, or orange.
GEOGRAPHIC HABITAT
Vultures in North America are found in most habitats except for the boreal zone and high mountains. The most widespread species is the Turkey Vulture, a common bird in much of the United States and southern Canada. In the southeastern United States, it is joined by the Black Vulture. At a few sites in the southwest it shares the skies with the very rare California Condor.
MIGRATION
Although the Black Vulture and the California Condor are non-migratory, many populations of Turkey Vultures make annual migrations in huge flocks to Central and South America.
HABITS
Vultures are usually found in flocks although they don’t nest in colonies. These soaring birds take to the sky on a daily basis when the air warms up enough to provide them with “thermals” – currents of warm air that flow upward. Once they are up and riding these thermals, they search for carrion with their sense of smell (Turkey Vultures only), and keen eyesight that is also used to watch for other vultures descending to feed. At a carcass, the feeding hierarchy is established by size although groups of Black Vultures can drive away solitary Turkey Vultures.
CONSERVATION
The California Condor is a critically endangered species that has been brought to the brink of extinction by a variety of changes to its environment, it’s susceptibility to lead poisoning from ingesting bullets from “gut piles” left by hunters after field dressing game, and persecution from ranchers. Its very low reproductive rate has made it difficult for this large species to recover in numbers although a captive breeding program has been successful in increasing condor numbers from a few dozen to over three hundred in captivity and the wild.
INTERESTING FACTS
Vultures defecate on their own feet to keep cool. The water in their droppings has the same function as sweating; the water evaporates to provide a cooling effect.